2015: Matthew Lujano

Westside State Bank faced a common challenge for small rural banks when Matthew Lujano took up the president's chair four years ago. Based in Westside, in the west-central part of Iowa, the bank had a two part demographic challenge..The bank's leaders, both executives and the managers of it four branches, where retiring or near retirement. Younger customers were moving to larger towns like Carroll, the largest population center in the bank's footprint. Even customers of retirement age were moving to Carroll to be closer to medical services..Under Lujano's leadership, Westside State Bank is well on its way to solving its people problems, both in terms of its staff and in terms of customers via technology and new branches..NorthWestern Financial Review is honoring Lujano as a Rising Star in Banking for 2015, along with six other bankers..Lujano quickly has taken what was an aging leadership at Westside State Bank and recruited a next generation team. The 39-year old Lujano is now the oldest executive at the bank.."Each office now has a young officer," said Jim White, Lujano's step-father and chairman of the bank. "Matt has been very effective at finding candidates and attracting new people; that isn't necessarily easy in rural areas.".Lujano also has led the bank into digital products that keep customers connected to the bank, said Jim Andersen, a board member at the bank and assistant vice president at the Iowa Bankers Mortgage Corporation, a division of the Iowa Bankers Association. "His service as president is marked by an enthusiastic embrace of technology and awareness of the changes required to provide banking services in today's competitive world," Andersen said..Lujano has a degree in finance and has completed the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but he has no schooling in IT. Yet, after he came to the bank in 1998, his first big project was to conduct all the bank's testing for Y2K. "When you are the youngest person in a small bank, you are the default IT guy," Lujano said. "They needed someone who wasn't afraid to turn a computer on.".His later projects brought ATM service, debit cards and internet banking to customers. Now, Westside State Bank is in the testing phase for its new mobile deposit capture product. It also recently began opening accounts and accepting mortgage applications on its website. "We have invested to be able to interact with customers wherever they are," he said..Bringing competitive products to customers can be a challenge but community banks do have an edge when it comes to knowing their customers, Lujano said. "With the potential for fraud, there is apprehension with remote deposit, and other digital products, because the bank is on the hook for everything in consumer transactions," he said. "Fortunately, our customers are well known to us. It would be scarier if we didn't know everyone.".While Lujano has made technology his forte, he hasn't neglected serving customers by expanding the bank's footprint. Westside State Bank expects to open a new location in Carroll this summer. "Right now our branches are in satellite communities to Carroll," White said. "People work in Carroll, shop in Carroll, they go there for medical services and they retire there. That is a great expansion for us.".With an existing customer base in Carroll, Lujano said Westside State Bank is moving there to serve customers better. "We are not moving to aggressively expand our business," he said. "We are excited about the opportunity to serve Carroll and to work with commercial businesses but we will grow prudently. The branch is about giving greater convenience to our customers.".Lujano joined Westside State Bank when technology was just beginning to change banking, White said. "We needed someone who could operate the bank in an overwhelming environment for IT and compliance," he said. "Matt has done that. He is leading the bank into a new era in banking.".Other 2015 Rising Stars in Banking honorees:Bill LaVigne, The Bank of Elk River, Minn.Lucas White, The Fountain Trust Company, Covington, Ind.Amanda Fanning, Adams Bank & Trust, Ogallala, Neb.Tim Heilman, Choice Financial Group, Fargo, N.D.Mark Heinemann, Farmers State Bank of Hartland, Minn.Jennifer Kruchten, First National Bank and Trust of Beloit, Wis.